Admiral Mom
by nhaer042
Summary: Shepard is out on Spectre duty and Tali is left to tend to their sick human son.


Just a short one-shot between Tali and her son. Story is in canon with my other two ME stories.

Bioware owns Mass Effect.

Hope you enjoy.

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Admiral Mom

Description: Shepard is out on Spectre duty and Tali is left at home with their sick human son. Now she has to juggle duties as an admiral as well as tend to ill child. How hard could it be?

"Orah, Robert, Come and get your breakfast," Tali called from the bottom of the stairs. She headed to the kitchen and started eating the meal she made for her and her daughter. There was a separate meal set aside for her human son, Robert. She looked over a datapad at issues she needed to discuss with the other admirals. She sipped at her dextro-friendly coffee as her daughter, Orah stepped into the kitchen and got a plate of food.

"Moring, Mom," greeted Orah.

"Morning, sweetie," Tali greeted back. Orah sat down and started eating. After about a minute, Tali had noticed the lack of a small human boy scarfing down his eggs and bacon. "Where is your brother?" Tali asked her daughter. "Orah shrugged her shoulders.

"Still asleep I guess," she answered. Tali raised a brow. Robert was usually difficult to wake up but he always sprung out of bed when he smelled his favorite breakfast meal.

"Still asleep?" Tali repeated. She got out of her chair. "I'm going to go check on him." She headed upstairs to Robert's room and knocked on the door. "Robert? Are you awake? Breakfast is done." She was pretty sure the mention of breakfast would get his attention.

_Achoo! Achoo! ACHOO! _The sound of sneezing came from the other side of the door. Tali opened it to see her son wrapped in his balnkets, the top of his head sticking out and facing away from her. Tali approached the bed and gently shook Robert.

"Robert? Are you okay, son?" asked Tali. Robert turned over to face her. He pulled his blanket down just enough so she could see his whole face. All the color was gone from his face except for his nose which was bright red. He was shivering profusely and sniffling in an attempt to keep his nose from running.

"Hey *cough* Mom," said Robert giving her a weak smile. Tali felt his forehead with the back of her hand.

"Keelah, your warm," said Tali. She brought up her omni-tool. She went to the restroom, opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed a thermometer. She returned to Robert's room and stuck the thermometer in his mouth. "Keep that under your tongue for a minute," she instructed. Robert did as he was told. The thermometer beeped and Tali removed it to see what temperature it was at. 101.4 degrees.

"Is it bad?" asked Robert.

"You have a cold I think," answered Tali. "You are staying home today."

"Cool!" said Robert. It was quickly followed by a sneeze.

"Don't get too excited, mister. I'll have your teacher send your homework home with Orah."

"Oh, man. *cough, cough*"

Tali gave him a small smirk before heading back downstairs. Orah was finishing packing her backback when she noticed your mom. "Is he awake?" she asked.

"He is and he's sick. I'm going to call the school and have them send his homework back with you."

"I get to add to his suffering?" she asked with a sly smile coming to her face. "Sweet."

"I love that sisterly concern you have for your poor little brother," said Tali.

"I care," said Orah pretending to be offended. "I just like to get back at him for annoying me every once in a while."

Tali rolled her eyes. "Kids. Alright, the skybus should be here soon get going before you miss it." Orah finished packing her things and grabbed the lunch Tali had made for her. She gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out the door. Tali then brought up her omni-tool and called the school. An image of the school receptionist came up.

"Rayya Elementary," greeted the lady, "this is Kala'Ulnae. How may I help you?"

"This is Tali'Shepard. My son Robert is unable to make it to school today. Could you send his homework home with my daughter?"

"Yes, Tali'Shepard. I'll inform his teacher. I hope your son feels better."

"Thank you. Have a nice day." Tali then quickly tried to get a hold of Shepard. The Council could not have picked a worse time to need Shepard for some special assignment. Luckily, Shepard responded to her call.

"Hey, honey," he greeted. "I can't talk right now. I'll call later."

"Wait!" she quickly said.

"What?"

"Robert's sick," Tali explained. "Do we have any medicine for him?"

"I think there's some in the medicine cabinet. Little blue bottle. There should be instructions on it on how much to give him. I need to go now. Hope Robert feels better. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too." She hung up and went to the medicine cabinet. She found the bottle he was talking about. There was a blue liquid inside. The instructions were written in English but didn't pose a big problem. _Glad Nick taught me how to read and speak his language._ She went back into her room and put her helmet on so she wouldn't catch what Robert had. She went back to Robert's room looking over the instructions on the bottle again. Robert frowned when he saw her in her full enviro-suit.

"You're wear that because of me aren't you?" he asked.

"It isn't your fault," she said pouring the correct amount of medicine into the little cup that came with the medicine. She helped Robert sit up in his bed and handed him the medicine cup. "Drink this," she told him. Robert drank it only to immediately spit it out.

"Yuck!" he spat grimacing.

"Well, you need to take it. You want something to wash it down?" Robert coughed as he nodded his head. She went downstairs, poured him a small cup of juice, returned to his room, and refilled the medicine cup. She handed the medicine and juice to him. "Try and swallow it this time." Her quip was met with a mix between a laugh and a couch followed by a couple of sneezes. He downed the medicine and quickly followed it with the juice. He grimaced a bit.

"It still tastes bad," he complained.

"I promise it will make you feel better. Are you hungry?" she asked. Robert shook his head. "Well, just rest for now, okay?" Robert nodded as he lay back down and pulled the covers over him.

Tali looked over the information on her terminal regarding how humans deal with colds. Apparently soup was a common meal given to a human with a cold. She also read that humans tend to lose their appetite when they're sick. _Explains why Robert wasn't hungry._ She checked the time on her omni-tool. It was getting close to lunch time. She knew there was some soup in the pantry somewhere. She went to the kitchen and checked the pantry. She found a small can that said 'Chicken Noodle' on it. _How do you make noodles from chickens?_ She opened the can and poured the soup into a bowl. She looked at the yellow colored broth, tiny noodles, and small bits of meat floating around. _Humans eat the strangest things._ She heated the bowl in the microwave, grabbed a spoon, and brought the meal to him.

"Hey, honey," she said as she walked into the bedroom. Robert away from his comic book at Tali.

"Hi, Mo-ACHOO!" He grabbed a tissue from the box Tali left on the table next to his bed and blew his nose. Tali approached his bed and handed him the bowl of soup.

"Eat this. It'll help you feel better." Robert took the soup and began to sip at it slowly. Tali sat on the side of the bed and wrapped her arm around her son's shoulders. "What are you reading?"

"Some old comics dad gave me."

"Where did he find actual comics? Are they mostly digital now?" Robert just shrugged.

"I don't know, but they're pretty cool." Tali looked at the box next to his bed. It was filled with old comics. She grabbed one and started looking through it. There were men dressed in odd costumes beating each other up. She didn't quite see the appeal.

"Your father actually likes these?" she asked putting the comic back in the box.

"You should *cough* actually read them, Mom," said Robert. He took another sip of his soup.

"What's this one you're reading?" Tali asked grabbing the comic that lay on Robert's lap.

"It's one about Dad and some guy named Saren," answered Robert.

"Really?" asked Tali. She started looking through the comic. She recognized the images of Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley. She frowned as she remembered Ash's sacrifice on Virmire. The comic portrayed the three of them fighting geth on Eden Prime and ended with Shepard activating the beacon. "I'm not in this one," she observed.

"Huh?" asked Robert raising a brow.

"I was there when your father fought Saren," Tali explained.

"Really?" asked Robert. He sniffled a bit and wiped his nose with the tissue.

"Really."

"Cool. _Both _my parents are galactic heroes! *cough* Could you tell me the story?"

"Why don't you read about it in your comics?" Robert grabbed the comic from her and put it back in the box. He took another sip from his soup before answering.

"I want to hear about it from you," he said. "You won't mess up any of the details."

"Alright," said Tali as she leaned against the bed rest. "It was about thirteen years ago I had just begun my Pilgrimage. . ."

Three hours later, Robert was back to sleep. He wanted her to tell more stories about the Reaper War but Tali told him he needed his rest. She looked over some reports sent by Raan to her omni-tool. There was a brief message.

_Tali'Shepard,_

_ I have sent reports from the meeting of the Admirals today. Nothing too major was discussed. I hope your son is feeling better. _

_ Shala'Raan_

"Hey, Mom!" called Orah as she walked in through the front door.

"Hey, Orah," Tali called back. "Did you get Robert's homework?"

"Have it in my backpack," she replied as she walked up the stairs. She entered his brother's room and saw him sound asleep. She started taking out the datapads that held his homework assignments and setting them on his desk. Robert woke up when he heard the noise.

"Hey," he said tiredly.

"Hey, little brother," said Orah. "Got your homework for you." Robert groaned at the word 'homework.'

"Why do teachers give homework when you're sick?" he asked.

"It's a form of torture I think," she answered. She walked up to him and put her hand on his forehead. "You still feel warm. You feel any better?"

"Some," he said. "Mom's been taking care of me."

"Yeah. I remember when I got sick once. She spent the entire day taking care of me."

"Doesn't she have lots of important admiral stuff or something?"

"I hear it's pretty dull. Besides I think she would choose us over her work any day."

"Oh."

"You rest up, little brother," said Orah ruffling his hair. "Don't forget your homework though she teased. Robert just gave a little growl causing her to giggle.

Robert walked down the stairs with his blanket wrapped around him and a datapad in his hand. He walked into his living room where Tali and Orah were watching a vid. Tali sat on the couch while Orah sat in the recliner. Tali took notice of Robert as he sat next to her on the couch.

"Hey, Robert," she greeted. "You need something?"

"Can you listen while I read my reading assignment to you? I focus better when I read it out loud to someone."

"Sure, sweetie." Robert held up his datapad and was about to start reading when her omni-tool beeped. Shepard was trying to call. She tapped a button on her omni-tool and a small screen with an image of Shepard popped up.

"Hey, Tali," greeted Shepard. "Got a little bit of free time so I thought I'd call. How is everyone? Is Robert feeling any better?" Robert leaned in so his dad could see him.

"Hi, Dad," said Robert.

"Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?"

"A little better. My nose still feels all stuffed up."

"You take any medicine?"

"I gave him some earlier today," answered Tali. "I'll give him some more before he goes to bed."

"Good. Hope you feel better, Robert." Orah cam behind the couch and looked over her mother's shoulder.

"Hey, Daddy," she said smiling.

"Hey, sweetie. You aren't sick to are you?"

"No, I'm fine. Although I had to play courier and bring Robert's homework to him."

"I wouldn't mind if you left it at school," Robert interjected.

"Nice try, bud," said Shepard. "Well I need to get going. I love you all. Take care. I should be home in a couple of days."

"Bye, Dad," the kids said in unison.

"See you soon, honey," said Tali. She hung up and looked at Robert. "Now let's get to this reading assignment."

Later that night, Robert climbed into bed. He had been exhausted the whole day. He hated being sick. He pulled his blanket over him when Tali walked into the room with a small cup of water. She set the cup on his desk and handed him a small pill. "This should help you sleep tonight," she told him. He swallowed the pill and took a sip of the water to wash it down. "I'm going to keep you home for one more day," said Tali.

"Aren't you going to miss more work?" asked Robert.

"They can always send me reports of what they discussed."

"Oh, okay. I just don't want you to miss anything important because of me."

Tali smiled behind her mask. She started running her hand through Robert's hair. "The most important thing to me is to make sure you and your sister are well taken care of. My family always comes first. Besides, those Admiralty meetings get really boring even if there is something interesting to talk about." Rober chuckled a bit. He laid his head on his pillow.

"Goodnight, Mom," he said.

"Sleep well, young one," she told him. She got up and walked out of the room. As she closed the door she smiled at her sleeping son. She meant what she said. Her family always came ahead of everything else. She was a mother first and admiral second and she intended to keep it that way.

The End

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Thanks for reading!


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